quartz mill
- noun
- /kwɔrts mɪl/
- Specialized
:
molino de cuarzo
- Many prospectors used a quartz mill to extract gold from the surrounding rock.
Examples
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The noise of the quartz mill echoed across the valley as it crushed the ore.
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The old mining town still has a functioning quartz mill from the nineteenth century.
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The new quartz mill has increased production significantly.
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Many quartz mills are located in the mining district.
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Many prospectors used a quartz mill to crush ore and extract gold.
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The quartz mill worked tirelessly to grind the quartz and separate precious metals.
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Inside the museum, a vintage quartz mill demonstrates how miners processed ore in the past.
Synonyms
20
2.2
A machine that grinds materials like grain and coffee
A machine that crushes rock to get metal from it
A machine that crushes rock that has metal in it to get metals like gold
A machine with heavy metal hammers that crushes quartz rock to get gold and other minerals
Machines that grind or crush materials like grain into smaller pieces
How Powerful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a mill that processes quartz' is directly and compositionally built from 'quartz' (the mineral) + 'mill' (a device for grinding), following a common noun–noun compound pattern. This straightforward referential combination is cross-linguistically regular, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The noun quartz mill comes from miners crushing quartz in a heavy mill with big hammers to free the gold inside. So quartz mill means a mill or machine used to 'extract' gold or other metals from quartz.